Foodie Bubble Preferable to Daily Deals Bubble, VillageVines Decides

Restaurant discount vendor VillageVines, which just raised its Series A in December, has announced a change in direction. The New York-based start-up renamed itself Savored.com (great domain, bro), re-designed its website with a “new feel,” and is generally rebranding to separate itself from the daily deals offerings we all know and are sick of. “It ties to the idea that we don’t want to be a deals site. We want to be much more,” co-founder Benjamin McKean told the Chicago Tribune.

Savored targets high-end restaurants and has always made much of the fact that no physical coupon is needed for its 30 percent discounts–“all discounts are discreetly applied at the meal’s end, eliminating the need for coupons”–with the implication that coupons are tacky. “The redsigned website downplays the 30-percent discount, which McKean said will be presented as ‘insider pricing’ as part of a Savored membership instead of the main attraction,” the Trib writes.

The pivot aligns Savored more with foodie-oriented start-ups, which have an aura of culture about them. Instead of emphasizing its members-only, Gilt-esque “insider pricing,” Savored will focus on curating “experiences” for customers. Too bad New York-based Scoop St. and countless other deal sites are thinking the same thing.

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